HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – Two bills being heard in the Montana Legislature this week focus on workers’ compensation insurance for volunteer firefighters. However, the bills’ sponsors don’t agree on how it should be paid for.
As Shaylee Ragar reports for the UM Legislative News Service, House Bill 28 would tax fireworks to help pay for the coverage. Leonard Lundby is with the statewide Volunteer Firefighter Association and says about 2,000 Montana volunteer firefighters are uninsured. He supports the bill.
“It is only meant to help the poorest of the poor fire departments.”
Senator Fred Thomas’s Senate Bill 29 would require volunteer fire departments to carry the coverage. But, he opposes the fireworks tax and says firehouses should find other ways to pay for it.
Mike Maeder, owner of Liberty Fireworks in Great Falls, spoke against the fireworks tax.
“We’re going to get kicked in the teeth, we really are.”
Thomas introduced his bill Wednesday in committee.
